Designated as 'Seol Special Quarantine Period' from 1st to 14th next month... Refrain from visiting hometown and relatives

Minister Jeon Hae-cheol Chairs 1st Safety Policy Coordination Committee
Ministry of Health and Welfare & KDCA Plan to Minimize Movement and Contact…Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Sells Only Window Seats on Train Tickets
Enhanced Wildfire Management…Korea Forest Service Establishes 'K-Wildfire Prevention Measures'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government announced on the 26th that it will discuss safety management measures focused on preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and will activate an emergency response system during the holiday period.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety held the '1st Safety Policy Coordination Committee Meeting of 2021' chaired by Minister Jeon Hae-cheol on the same day, focusing on COVID-19 safety management measures by each ministry. The meeting, attended by 20 central ministries and 17 metropolitan and provincial governments, discussed key agendas including 'COVID-19-centered safety management measures during the Lunar New Year holiday,' inter-agency cooperation system checks, and the 'K-Wildfire Prevention Measures' in preparation for spring wildfires.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency designated the period from February 1 to February 14 as a special COVID-19 prevention period for Lunar New Year, planning to minimize people's movement and contact by urging restraint from visiting hometowns, relatives, and traveling during the holiday.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport established quarantine measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 caused by the use of transportation facilities, and also formulated safety measures against traffic safety hazards such as increased long-distance traffic volume, adverse weather, and illegal driving during the Lunar New Year holiday. These include selling only window seats for train tickets, recommending priority reservation of window seats on express and intercity buses, and banning indoor dining at rest areas. The Ministry operates 42 undercover patrol cars on highways and has expanded the number of frost-prone management sections from 60 last year to 167.

Related agencies and local governments will organize their own situation duty teams to ensure no gaps in situation management during the holiday and will establish and operate a 24-hour government-wide situation management system centered on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room.

Wildfire management will also be strengthened. The Korea Forest Service has established the 'K-Wildfire Prevention Measures,' which include establishing response postures for each crisis level, strengthening the application of advanced technology on-site, and building a field-centered response system to enhance wildfire management. In preparation for the spring wildfire caution period, the Korea Forest Service will operate central and regional task forces (300 agencies nationwide) and establish a rapid initial response system through wildfire command vehicles equipped with advanced technology and a three-dimensional (3D) wildfire spread prediction system.

The Korea Forest Service will also strengthen public wildfire safety services by using the Smart Forest Disaster app to provide information on wildfire occurrence and spread, evacuation locations, and movement routes.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, as the lead ministry, will analyze and improve 27 systems identified through a focused review of safety inspections and safety management plan regulations managed by each ministry. The 27 systems include 14 safety inspection-related items such as establishing qualification regulations for traditional market safety inspectors, strengthening personnel deployment standards for construction site safety management, and shortening inspection cycles for high-risk construction machinery. Additionally, 13 safety management plan-related items include establishing grounds for medical device and construction safety management plans, collecting opinions when establishing comprehensive elevator safety policies, introducing administrative notice regulations, and strengthening procedures such as establishing a deliberation body for the broadcasting and communications disaster management basic plan.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to regularly (semi-annually) check the implementation status of the identified improvement tasks and additionally discover safety system improvement tasks related to safety personnel qualifications and deployment standards in the second half of the year to ensure prompt progress.

Minister Jeon Hae-cheol urged, "Since this Lunar New Year holiday is a particularly important period regarding COVID-19 prevention, please ensure thorough implementation of quarantine measures by each agency," and added, "Central ministries and local governments should communicate and cooperate closely to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccination scheduled to begin in February proceeds without any errors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.